Thane building collapse: TMC officials advised builder not to accept notice in his name

Thane: In a shocking revelation in Thane building collapse case, prosecution on Saturday told the court that municipal officials, who went to serve notice on builder Abdul Salim Aziz Siddiqui two days before the incident at Shil Phata here, allegedly advised him not to accept it in his name.
Seventy-four persons, including children and women, were killed when the 7-storey under-construction building, with no permissions whatsoever, crashed exactly one month ago.

Opposing the bail applications of the builder and other accused, prosecutor Hemlata Deshmukh told judge KR Warrier that Thane Municipal Corporation officials had gone to the site on April 2 to serve the notice.

However, they advised the builder not to accept the notice in his name. It was then accepted in the name of Adnan Shaikh, she said.

Investigation was on and some more arrests were expected, the prosecutor told the court.

Bail applications have been filed by builder Siddiqui, Deputy Municipal Commissioner Deepak Chavan, and a few others. A total of 22 persons have been arrested in the case.

Urging bail for Siddiqui, senior lawyer Majeed Memon argued that "intention" to kill could not be attributed to the accused.

He had no foreknowledge that the building will collapse and he himself lost six members of his family in the collapse, Memon argued.

As prosecution questioned this contention, court gave Siddiqui time till April 18 to file an affidavit to explain the exact relationship of the six victims with him.

According to the prosecution, the construction was so flawed that the seven-storey building had only two feet deep foundation.